SOCCER: Tigers player/manager Dave Nolan has spoken of his delight at Hyde's last minute relegation reprieve.

Following the failure of Bishop Auckland and Ossett Town to reach the required UniBond League ground grading requirements, Hyde United were granted a dramatic reprieve from relegation last Thursday and will retain their premier division status next season.

The last-minute decision has given everyone connected with the Ewen Fields club a massive boost ahead of the pre-season break, none more so than Tigers' player/manager Dave Nolan.

He told the Advertiser: "All through last season we kept believing our luck would change, but I never believed for one second that it would change in this manner.

"I had heard about the initial League decisions on Thursday, and the following day I went to watch the Ossett Town versus Radcliffe game.

"When Ossett eventually won and secured the runners-up spot, I was elated as it meant we had even avoided the play-offs.

"I've never heard of this happening in the UniBond League before, but the chairman and I were delighted as we can look forward to all the Tameside derbies again next season."

The league decreed that Bishop Auckland should be placed at the bottom of the premier division, while Ossett were simply denied promotion from division one, leaving Ashton United to battle it out in the play-offs.

Hyde will host Nigel Clough's UniBond champions Burton Albion in their first pre-season friendly on Wednesday, July 24 at Ewen Fields.

Meanwhile, the Premier League have confirmed that Manchester City can continue to use Ewen Fields for their reserve team fixtures after a ground inspection last week.